LncRNA SNHG16 promotes migration and invasion through suppression of CDKN1A in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Researchers have discovered the important role of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in tumorigenesis. In this study, lncRNA SNHG16 was studied to identify whether it influences metastasis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).

SNHG16 expression was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in both ccRCC cells and tissue samples. The association between prognosis of ccRCC patients and the expression of SNHG16 was analyzed through Kaplan-Meier method. Moreover, functional assays including wound healing assay and transwell assay were conducted. Bioinformatics analysis, qRT-PCR and Western blot assay were used to explore the underlying mechanism. Furthermore, animal experiments were conducted to explore the function of SNHG16 in vivo.

SNHG16 expression level was higher in ccRCC samples when compared with that in adjacent ones. Moreover, cell migration and cell invasion capacities were inhibited after SNHG16 was silenced in vitro. In addition, the mRNA and protein expression of CDKN1A was upregulated after silence of SNHG16. Furthermore, the expression level of CDKN1A was negatively related to the expression of SNHG16 in ccRCC tissues. The experiments in vivo showed that silence of SNHG16 remarkably repressed the metastasis of ccRCC.

These results suggest that silence of SNHG16 could inhibit cell migration and invasion via upregulating CDKN1A in ccRCC.